Are Engraved Business Cards Worth It?

While engraved business cards and other types of custom printing are all the rage on portfolio sites like Behance and on social media platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram, it’s quite rare that you find them “out in the wild”, so to speak. This is at a time where more people than ever before are designing, creating, and ordering other kinds of business cards. As a matter of fact, more people are ordering custom printing these days than at any other time. But if custom engraved cards are so popular on portfolio sites and social media, why don’t you see them that often?

It all comes down to cost. While anyone can just print their own business cards on a desktop printer, not a lot of people have the technical skill or experience needed to make engraved business cards. This means your neighborhood print shop might not always offer them, and many online printing services don’t feel it’s worth the trouble.

However, it’s clear that people do like engraved business cards. It’s just that they’re on the fence about whether engraved cards are worth it for them. Here are three important qualities of engraved business cards that make them worthwhile for most people.

Visual appeal

Any way you cut it (pun intended), engraved business cards just look incredible, especially when contrasted to a regular business card. Whether they’re executed in a traditional style using heavy cardstock or in a quirky modern style with metal, wood, and other nontraditional materials, engraved business cards just bring a little something extra to the conversation. The slight cuts and divots also allow these cards to catch light in a completely different and much more dynamic way than you typically see on a regular business card, making them visually interesting without being obnoxious.

Tactile feel

Engraved cards also tend to feel more interesting than regular business cards. This, in turn, tends to translate into a more engaging tactile experience. If the recipients can’t stop touching (or looking at) your cards, then there’s a good chance they’re more likely to keep them rather than chuck them straight into the trash.

Rarity and memorability

The fact that you don’t see them in them in real life all that often, usually means they’re far more likely to grab and hold your attention compared to other business cards. Getting a positive initial reaction can be incredibly valuable for someone in sales or marketing who wants to stay at the forefront of their customer’s mind. Some might even argue that the quest for ever more interesting business cards has resulted in a lot of them just being downright weird and annoying, as outlined in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. With an engraved card, however, you’re still playing on the safe side and are unlikely to catch attention in the wrong way.

As in all cases, value is relative. It takes more than just a well-designed embossed business card to take your business and your brand to the next level. But boy, they sure make things so much easier.